For those of you who are not as smart as the average bear, the site has been re-designed. Ain’t it pretty? And you have Julie to blame for it. (Notice how her blog is at the top of the list of places to visit. 
It’s okay, Julie…we still love you.)
I just heard on the news that Harry Potter has been targeted again by parents who don’t want it used in school as a teaching tool. This really annoys me. Not because I have any great love for Harry Potter, mind you, but I think the whole thing is ridiculous. Harry Potter does not PROMOTE witchcraft or Wicca or any other religion. The current argument is that, while the parents don’t want it banned, they don’t want it taught either, because they feel that it promotes Wicca, and since Wicca is a recognized religion, it is a violation of church and state laws. But, again, I don’t see the book teaching Wicca, and I think most Wiccans would agree that if you want to learn about the religion, you don’t learn it from Harry Potter. Beyond that, you could make the same wild extrapolations about a lot of books. The Once and Future King is pretty well steeped in Christianity, not to mention Merlin’s use of magic, but we read that book in school, and no one complained. And I’m sure there are a lot of other books that you could make the same claim about. Harry Potter is simply being targeted because it is SO popular. So, once again, let’s take something that actually interests kids, and let’s get rid of it. “We want our kids to read more!” Great! They’ve found these books, they love them, and they’re actually reading! “No! No! They can’t read THOSE books!” What the hell do these people want?!? Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say hell? That’s religious, isn’t it? Maybe someone should ban my weblog…
I don’t know how to feel about this….
I got a call today from a client of mine from California. We had done a gig together in NYC a bit over a year ago. He had a Production Manager named John Tripeny who was a really nice guy and a great PM. The message I got today was that John has passed away. He was in the process of working on an event for them, and they weren’t sure if John had contacted me about working on it. Regardless, they wanted to talk to me about working on it or possibly taking over for John. It feels strange. I did not know John very well, but what I did know about him I liked. On the one hand, it’s great for me to get work, and to possibly be able to work as the PM for this company now. On the other hand, John has passed away, and I feel really bad about that. It’s unfortunate when good things have to come from tragedy.
Proof that persistence pays off….
I sent a quote to Princeton Day School over a month ago. It was priced pretty high, but I knew that, and they knew it would probably come in high. After my meeting with them, we had agreed that if the quote came in high, we’d talk about it and see what we could cut, etc. After I sent the quote, I did not hear from them. I called several times, and got no response. This morning I placed what I believe was my fourth call and left what I believe was my fourth message. I said that I was calling because I hadn’t heard from them, and that I’d like to do whatever is necessary to work with them, and if the price was too high or the quote wasn’t what they needed, could they please call so we could discuss it. Tonight, at around 9:45, I got two very long messages on my answering machine from the drama director at Princeton Day School.
So, the end of the story (or at least where it’s at now) is that I have to make another appointment to talk to them and see what we can do to lower the price. But that’s good, because that’s what I was expecting. Persistence is good….
On another note, I’ve started listening to the Christmas MP3s again, and it’s starting to grow on me again…
I’m sure that in a week or two, my opinion will change, but I just finished paying my bills, and I’m not quite sure how I’m going to pay my mortgage this month, so for right now, I must say….Christmas! Bah! Humbug!
After Thanksgiving dinner (which was very good…thanks, Mom-In-Law!), we went to see the movie. I really enjoyed it. A lot. The more I think about it, the more I liked it. Ali did not enjoy it nearly as much. Once again, I’m glad for going against what society told me I should do and having NOT read the book. Apparently this ruined the movie for Ali. I, on the other hand, having no prior knowledge of Harry or his world, thoroughly enjoyed the movie and thought that the makers did a fantastic job. Yes, as many pointed out, the CGI left something to be desired, but overall, the movie was fantastic. Oh, and the soundtrack was really good, too. Someone should get it for me.
You know what bugs me? When you get a call from a telemarketer for something you already have. I mean, that’s just bad business practice. It’s bad enough that you’re bothering people by telemarketing, do you have to bother people who are already your customers?
If they made full suits of body armor that were lightweight enough, I’d wear one all the time.